My Hero Academia V3

 

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I am an affiliate with Z Publishing House. Anyone interested in reading the works of emerging writers please see the note at the end of the post. 

My Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kohei Horikoshi and published  by Shueisha in 2014. Horikoshi is known for his series Omagadoki Dobutsuen and Barrage. He also assisted Yasuki Tanaka with Hitomi no Catoblepas and Kagijin.  My Hero Academia is rated T for teen for cartoon violence and peril and some language.

Spoiler Alert!

 

Volume three picks up with All Might arriving at the training ground in the middle of the villain’s attack. He rescues Midoriya and his team before launching into his own fight with the villains. Unfortunately, the leader appears to know about All Might’s weakness and is using it to his advantage.  All Might is in danger and Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, and Kirishima step in to help him. Other heroes arrive in time to chase away the villains just before All Might converts to his regular form. As the heroes are tending to the wounded and figuring out how a league of villains and flunkies could break into the high school, readers get to see the villains in their hideout. The leader is merely a voice through a monitor but the one we’ve seen—whose design is amazing!—is revealed to be Tomura Shigaraki. I’m not sure if that name’s supposed to mean anything yet but the double exclamation points after his name seems to imply that it should. He’s also supposed to be a symbol of terror just like All Might is the symbol of peace. Unfortunately, Midoriya is now on their radar and they are preparing a stronger force for next time.

Back at the school, a young detective named Naomasa Tsukauchi comes to investigate the incident. He is a friend of All Might, knows about the hero’s weakness, and works closely with heroes. The adults work on figuring out who is behind the attack, the students are preparing for a large sporting event designed to show off the skills of the upcoming heroes as well as allow students from other, lesser classes get a chance to prove their skills. This poses a problem for Midoriya. He’s still unable to control his quirk, which means he cannot use it to help himself win the sporting events.

The tension is high with students declaring “war” against each other across the classes. Everyone is aiming to be the best and are going to crush the others in order to get there. Here we get to see some of the other heroes and student’s powers more clearly. The first event is an obstacle course. Midoriya ends up winning without using his quirk, much to the surprise of everyone. This volume ends with the next event being announced. Everyone earned a point value based on how they placed in the obstacle course. They must form teams and try to take headbands from the other teams; however, Midoriya’s first place is worth 10,000,000 points, making him the biggest target. This ends volume 3.

This is the volume that starts to develop more of the secondary characters, especially Todoroki. He’s never spoken to Midoriya before but he appears threatened after Mirodiya’s display during the battle. We also get to see some of the other classes and students but none seem to hold a specific role or position yet; they’re simply there to provide more bodies for the events.

Out of everything in this volume, I think Shigaraki’s design is the best. Hands make up most of his design, including his mask, and these seem able to attach and detach at will. He is creepy while also being visually interesting, yet he isn’t huge and threatening like some of the other villains. We also never see him using his quirk, so there is some mystery about him.

The obstacle course is also cool, if a bit busy.  We get to see the powers in action and some larger set pieces, but it is fast and busy so we don’t get a lot of time to study it.

I think I’ve read too much Shounen manga because as soon as they said “sporting event” I immediately rolled my eyes. Every single Shounen series that includes a large cast all trying to prove their skill in something has a kind of event where everyone is pitted against each other and they all declare their intention of being the best. HunterXHunter and Naruto are just some examples. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, I just found it unoriginal.

I do like the slow build for the larger conflict. The villain is intriguing, especially since he’s not the one in charge.  There’s also an interesting emphasis on symbols; one of peace and one of terror. I am interested in seeing how all of this develops, especially since Midoriya is now a recognized threat.

Continuing this series is fun and light, even if I am able to guess what is going to happen next.